Letter from Brussels

Drones have been featuring a lot as killing machines in the news recently, but as with every technology, it's how humans choose to use it that makes the difference. In this episode of Letter from Brussels, the Renew Europe CoR team brings you stories from around the European Union which show how drones are being used in amazing ways to save lives. And the fact that drones can be so useful is changing not just how we think of our cities and local communities, but even how we map them. Welcome to the future! Listen, like and share this episode, wherever you get your podcasts.Subscribe on YouTube to watch every podcast episode, or for the audio version subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

New format, new voices! We're relaunching the Letter from Brussels podcast, brought to you by the Renew Europe group in the European Committee of the Regions. The series returns with a new format and a broader range of voices, while continuing its original mission: to share stories from the European Union's capital and to highlight the local leaders transforming communities across the Union.The first new episode, The Art of Deterrence, takes listeners to the Latvian city of Liepāja, where Mayor Gunārs Ansiņš is leading efforts that will help strengthen Europe’s defence capabilities. With a major NATO port development project underway, Liepāja is becoming a strategic hub in the Baltic Sea - a reminder that resilience and security are shared European goals that begin in our towns and regions. By combining projects led by liberal and democrat subnational leaders with developments at the EU level, the Letter from Brussels podcast aims to bring you closer to the issues shaping Europe’s future. By bringing in policy experts and the leaders themselves, each month we’ll explore a different local story and connect it to the bigger European picture.Subscribe on YouTube to watch every podcast episode, or for the audio version subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this Letter:what the climb up to a medieval tower in the Flemish city of Mechelen reveals;what Jacques Delors said when the HQ of the European Committee of the Regions was named after him 17 years before he died;the liberal city taking over the European Capital of Culture title in 2024;the renovation of the vast site in Brussels that used to house the imperial postal service and Europe's largest railway station for goods;the inspiring interpreter at the RenewPAC summit in Dakar, Senegal, and the urgent geopolitical need to develop a partnership between Europe and Africa at all levels of government and society;how the Mayor of Mechelen is connecting his citizens with the European dimension of their identity, and how local leaders can help to boost voter turnout at the European elections of June 2024.Subscribe on YouTube to watch every podcast episode, or for the audio version subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

The extraordinary scenes of President Zelenskyy's visit to the European Parliament.How the city of Timisoara is going digital.How EU regions and cities are helping the victims of the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.Why wolves are causing a fierce debate about subsidiarity.The message for Europe from a Ukrainian refugee.The 80th anniversary of the attack by three young men from Brussels on a convoy taking Jewish deportees to Auschwitz.Subscribe on YouTube to watch every podcast episode, or for the audio version subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

The 9th Letter from Brussels takes you west to the middle of the Atlantic with the new President of the European Committee of the Regions; south to one of the EU’s land borders with Africa; and north to the Arctic, which has become of great interest to China. Plus, why the new female vice-presidents of Renew Europe in the CoR are political leaders you need to follow. And the story of the antique car in Brussels which could have helped change the course of climate history. Pictures of the antique car and Sean's recent visit to the Brussels Autoworld Museum can be found at www.reneweurope-cor.eu/podcastSubscribe on YouTube to watch every podcast episode, or for the audio version subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

The extraordinary precision of Europe's spaceport launching the James Webb telescope; the Royal Belgian Observatory's connection with Webb and a mission in 2022 to crash into an asteroid; the urban rural divide is a challenge to democracy; what cities can do to help prevent a crash in the number of pollinators; the latest on the Conference on the Future of Europe; and the inspiring and courageous Mayor of Cologne who has won the first Pawel Adamowicz award.Subscribe on YouTube to watch every podcast episode, or for the audio version subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

"The Crime & the Lone Crusader" carries highlights of a highly tense debate in the October plenary of the CoR, led by Fianna Fáil's Kate Feeney against homophobic amendments by Viktor Orban's Fidesz members, as well as new proposals by MR's Alexia Bertrand to empower consumers to make climate friendly choices when shopping, and the story of the lone crusader who fought against architectural crimes in Brussels in 1950 and 1964, and who was behind one of the most successful museums of the Belgian and EU capital.Subscribe on YouTube to watch every podcast episode, or for the audio version subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Third Letter from Brussels telling the story of a pioneering Belgian woman who was well ahead of her time in the protection of biodiversity, plus the value of language learning, the nominations for the Adamowicz award, LGBTIQ Freedom cities, the future of urban mobility, the threat of rural depopulation, and local youth shaping climate adaptation.Subscribe on YouTube to watch every podcast episode, or for the audio version subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Highlights of the debates with EU leaders on the future of Europe, integration of migrants, preventing violent extremism, defending the rights of LGBTIQ citizens in Poland, building local integrity systems, and a fascinating little known story about the Parc Leopold in Brussels.Subscribe on YouTube to watch every podcast episode, or for the audio version subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.